Working on scaffolding has become commonplace when building or maintaining buildings. The scaffolding can be relatively close to the ground or can be at elevated positions of several stories. Workers' safety is of utmost importance, as is the safety of other people on or adjacent the scaffolding, as for example, pedestrians passing by a building being renovated. To improve the safety of the use of scaffolds, both hand rails and toe boards are provided. Toe boards are used to prevent workers from accidentally overstepping the edge of the scaffold and to prevent tools or other items from falling off the scaffold floor or decking.
Scaffolds are normally built of a pipe superstructure providing columns for vertical support and beams for horizontal supports. Decking is then laid on the beams with the decking many times taking the form of loose boards, for example, 2.times.10s or 2.times.12s. It is important to maintain these boards on the support in a manner to prevent them from being dislodged and falling below, and to keep them from shifting relative to one another and forming gaps through which objects can drop.
Many forms of toe boards have been known in the industry but have generally involved complicated securement structures to removably secure the toe boards to the scaffolding. Many have provided complicated and expensive structures for the securement of the toe board to the scaffolding and many have lacked the ability to be able to custom-fit the toe board to varying lengths and widths of scaffolds. Because the scaffolding is many times at a highly elevated position, the ability to easily secure the toe boards to the structure without endangering the worker is important. A common type of toe board that is simple in structure is a board that is cut to length at the work sight and then toe nailed in place. Such a toe board requires a significant amount of time to make and secure and is difficult to secure when elevated because of the difficulty in accessing both sides for toe nailing.